canadian governmenthttp://www.desmogblog.com/taxonomy/term/2323/all
enHeavy is the Head That Wears the Crown: Tar Sands Expansion May Violate Crown's Legal Obligation to First Nationshttp://www.desmogblog.com/2012/11/09/federal-review-panel-refuses-consider-first-nations-constitutional-rights-shell-jackpine-hearing-violates-duty
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/tar%20sands.jpeg?itok=A0J5p4aM" width="200" height="133" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Today the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (<span class="caps">ACFN</span>) will argue in the Alberta Court of Appeal that <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/10/01/first-nation-challenge-shell-canada-s-jackpine-mine-expansion-citing-constitutional-treaty-rights">Shell Canada’s proposed Jackpine Mine expansion </a>is in violation of their Constitutional rights and represents a failure on behalf of the federal government to uphold their legal duty to consult (<span class="caps">DTC</span>). The First Nation, which originally made this argument in a joint federal/provincial hearing on October 1, was told<a href="https://acfnchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/for-immediate-release-energy-and-resource-conservation-board-denies-first-nations-motion-for-adjournment-of-oil-sands-hearing-first-nation-files-with-alberta-court-of-appeals/"> the panel did not have jurisdiction to hear constitutional questions</a>.</p>
<div>
When the <span class="caps">ACFN</span> applied for an adjournment, in that case,<a href="https://acfnchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/for-immediate-release-energy-and-resource-conservation-board-denies-first-nations-motion-for-adjournment-of-oil-sands-hearing-first-nation-files-with-alberta-court-of-appeals/"> their request was denied</a>. In response the First Nation is <a href="https://acfnchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/for-immediate-release-energy-and-resource-conservation-board-denies-first-nations-motion-for-adjournment-of-oil-sands-hearing-first-nation-files-with-alberta-court-of-appeals/">claiming</a> they have “no other option but to file legal arguments for the protection of their constitutionally protected rights through the Alberta Court of Appeal.” </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The government’s refusal to consider the <span class="caps">ACFN</span>’s best defense against the megaproject, which will increase Shell’s tar sands bitumen mining capacity in this one project alone by <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/10/01/first-nation-challenge-shell-canada-s-jackpine-mine-expansion-citing-constitutional-treaty-rights">100,000 barrels per day</a>, appears out of step with the federal government’s own admission that they must <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Aboriginal+rights+could+require+pipeline+industry+change+abandon+projects/7520398/story.html">accommodate the rights of First Nations</a> when considering industrial projects that entail irreversible impacts.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
First Nations rights, especially as defined in the 1982 Constitution and subsequent court decisions, <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Aboriginal+rights+could+require+pipeline+industry+change+abandon+projects/7520398/story.html">must be accommodated</a>, according to an<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/112602747/Accommodation-First-Nations-on-projects"> internal federal discussion paper</a>, released to Greenpeace Canada’s climate and energy campaigner Keith Stewart through access to information legislation.</div>
<!--break-->
<div>
</div>
<div>
“Accommodation can vary from: adjusting an activity or process to abandoning a project, to placing terms and conditions on any permits or authorizations,” said the paper, which was <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Aboriginal+rights+could+require+pipeline+industry+change+abandon+projects/7520398/story.html">presented in a December 2011 meeting in Calgary with the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association</a>, an oil and gas industry lobby group.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In addition <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Aboriginal+rights+could+require+pipeline+industry+change+abandon+projects/7520398/story.html">the government acknowledged “the duty to consult</a> and accommodate (<span class="caps">DTC</span>) is part of a process of fair dealing and reconciliation which flows from…the Constitution Act, 1982, and the Crown’s duty to deal honourably with Aboriginal peoples.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
According to <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/112602747/Accommodation-First-Nations-on-projects">the document</a> “the <span class="caps">DTC</span> is designed to prevent irreversible harm to aboriginal interests prior to negotiated settlements and to manage ongoing relationships with treaty groups in a way that upholds the honour of the Crown.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In consideration of the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/10/01/first-nation-challenge-shell-canada-s-jackpine-mine-expansion-citing-constitutional-treaty-rights">Jackpine Mine expansion</a>, the federal government failed to adequately consult the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation or to consider the irreversible impacts that might result from the enormity of the project. The loss of territory, violation of a watershed, or destruction of animal habitat can each be considered a violation of constitutionally protected Aboriginal rights if the land, water or species are considered culturally significant or essential to the traditional practices of the tribe.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
But when the <span class="caps">ACFN</span> brought these concerns to the hearing, they were told such matters were <a href="https://acfnchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/for-immediate-release-energy-and-resource-conservation-board-denies-first-nations-motion-for-adjournment-of-oil-sands-hearing-first-nation-files-with-alberta-court-of-appeals/">beyond the jurisdiction of the panel</a>. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
“We must take our case to the Alberta Court of Appeal,” <a href="https://acfnchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/for-immediate-release-energy-and-resource-conservation-board-denies-first-nations-motion-for-adjournment-of-oil-sands-hearing-first-nation-files-with-alberta-court-of-appeals/">stated Chief Allan Adam</a>. “The impacts of this project will have on our lands and rights is not fully understood or adequately addressed by the Crown. At this point we have exhausted all avenues to have the adequacy of Crown consultation addressed by the Panel and we have been left with no other choice but to take this to the courts.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The <span class="caps">AFCN</span> is concerned “irreparable harm” may occur if the hearing proceeds without considering the constitutional questions. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
“The government has made it incredibly difficult for us to access avenues to adequately protect our lands and rights,” <a href="https://acfnchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/for-immediate-release-energy-and-resource-conservation-board-denies-first-nations-motion-for-adjournment-of-oil-sands-hearing-first-nation-files-with-alberta-court-of-appeals/">said Adam</a>. “We are very concerned that Alberta has delegated consultation to the proponent Shell and we want the adequacy of Crown consultation assessed.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Aboriginal+rights+could+require+pipeline+industry+change+abandon+projects/7520398/story.html">Greenpeace Canada’s Keith Stewart says </a>the newly-released internal document demonstrates the seriousness of the Crown’s legal obligation to First Nations. Projects like the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline could be rejected by the federal government on the basis that more than 100 First Nations cite concerns ‘irreparable’ damage <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/crucial-pipelines-jeopardized-by-failure-to-consult-first-nations-prentice-warns/article4572255/">may violate their rights</a>.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Referring to sweeping <a href="https://acfnchallenge.wordpress.com/2012/10/18/for-immediate-release-first-nation-concerned-bill-c-45-allows-tar-sands-industry-to-destroy-vital-waterways-and-treaty-rights/">changes made to environmental assessment and review legislation</a> in the Omnibus budget Bill C-38,<a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Aboriginal+rights+could+require+pipeline+industry+change+abandon+projects/7520398/story.html"> Stewart commented</a>, “this government can rewrite environmental laws but it can’t rewrite the constitution.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The <span class="caps">ACFN</span> will make their appeal in an Edmonton court today, while a September 2011 claim the First Nation made against Shell for failures to uphold agreements in 2003 and 2006 remains in legal limbo, with no date set for hearings. In this 2011 case the <span class="caps">ACFN</span> argues Shell did not adequately mitigate the impacts of pre-existing projects. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The First Nation hopes today’s appeal will result in an independent review of the Crown’s consultation. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<em>Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kk/6880115375/in/set-72157629270319399/">Kris Krug</a></em></div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1268">shell</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7242">Shell Canada</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10696">Jackpine Mine</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4389">Enbridge</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5534">Northern Gateway Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7519">Canadian Energy Pipeline Association</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4434">oil and gas lobby</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10953">Omnibus Budget Bill C-38</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10366">Jackpine Mine Expansion</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10769">Keith Stewart</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5435">Greenpeace Canada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10923">access to information</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10939">Constitutionally Protected Rights</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6977">Aboriginal Rights</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10940">Constitution 1982</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10941">Constitution Act</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10354">Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10364">ACFN</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10942">Joint Review Panel</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10943">Jackpine Mine Hearing</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10944">internal documents</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9104">Federal government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8119">Harper Government</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10945">Duty to Consult</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10946">Accommodate</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10947">irreversible harm</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10948">open pit mining</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10949">Alberta Court of Appeal</a></div></div></div>Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:01:00 +0000Carol Linnitt6646 at http://www.desmogblog.comChina-Canada Investment "Straitjacket:" Interview with Gus Van Harten Part 2http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/10/16/china-canada-investment-straitjacket-interview-gus-van-harten-part-2
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Van_Harten1_1.jpeg?itok=cA7IIX6W" width="120" height="150" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>This post is second in a series on the <em>Canada-China Investment “Straitjacket:” Exclusive Interview with Gus Van Harten</em>. You can read <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/10/15/china-canada-investment-treaty-designed-be-straight-jacket-canada-exclusive-interview-trade-investment-lawyer-gus-van">Part 1 here</a> and <a href="http://desmog.ca/2012/10/18/china-canada-investment-straitjacket-interview-gus-van-harten-part-3">Part 3 here</a>.</p>
<p>Right now Canadians stare down the barrel of a <a href="http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/canada-china-investment-deal-deserves-greater-public-scrutiny">31-year long legal trade agreement</a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/17/canada-china-fipa-critics-flawed_n_1975149.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business"> </a>with the Chinese government that did not become public knowledge until September 26, 2012.<br /><br />
The trade treaty, known as the <a href="http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/china-chine/finalEA-china-chine-EEfinale.aspx?lang=eng&amp;view=d">Foreign Investment Protection Agreement</a> or <span class="caps">FIPA</span>, has garnered notable opposition in the past three weeks, with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/17/canada-china-fipa-critics-flawed_n_1975149.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business"><span class="caps">NDP</span> trade critic Don Davies calling for public hearings</a>, Green Party <span class="caps">MP</span> <a href="http://www.greenparty.ca/stop-the-sellout">Elizabeth May calling for an emergency Parliamentary debate</a>, and campaign organizations <a href="http://www.leadnow.ca/canada-not-for-sale-sou">Leadnow.ca and SumofUs.org gathering over 39,300 opposition signatures</a> (and counting) to deliver in person to Ottawa.</p>
<p>Yesterday, the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/17/canada-china-fipa-critics-flawed_n_1975149.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business">Canadian Press</a> reported the Harper government's refusal to host public hearings. Elizabeth May's October 1 request was also denied on the grounds that <a href="http://www.greenparty.ca/stop-the-sellout"><span class="caps">FIPA</span> does not meet the test of emergency</a>.</p>
<p>The trade agreement, or treaty, as it is called, is slated for ratification at the end of this month. The Commons trade committee will be briefed on the document in a one hour hearing.</p>
<p>With a trade deal that <a href="http://www.greenparty.ca/media-release/2012-10-01/may-request-emergency-debate-canada-china-investment-deal">threatens Canadian sovereignty</a> looming on the horizon and a government committed to expediting its approval, DeSmog caught up with trade investment lawyer and Osgoode professor <a href="http://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty/full-time/gus-van-harten">Gus Van Harten</a> to talk through some of the details.</p>
<!--break-->
<p>In this segment Van Harten discusses <em>why</em> the Canadian government would pursue a deal of this sort, outlining the implications of the agreement for environmental legislation in Canada and development in the tar sands, especially in light of the spring's <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/06/06/a-rough-guide-to-bill-c-38/">Omnibus budget bill C-38</a>.</p>
<p>Van Harten also considers the implications of the trade agreement for undecided energy projects like the Northern Gateway Pipeline and, significantly, if first nations and environmental groups were to blockade projects of this sort - who's rights the government would be obliged to protect. </p>
<p>Below is Part 2 of our interview:</p>
<p>Carol Linnitt: As you have described it, it doesn't seem to make much sense for Canada to sign this agreement.</p>
<p><strong>Gus Van Harten:</strong> I can tell you - trying to think about <em>why</em> the government would sign the China-Canada deal - it’s very unfavourable to Canada because of the way in which, as I was saying earlier, we have an open economy and China’s is closed, so the deal really, in fact appears likely to benefit Chinese investors far more than Canadian investors in China, because there will just be more Chinese investment here, because we’ve allowed more in. <strong>But I was trying to think why the government might do it, well I thought of different reasons, one might be that they sort of want to score the political bragging rights, of, ‘we signed the deal’, which is, you know, very short sighted, but sometimes governments are kind of shallow like that.</strong></p>
<p>Another explanation would be that they want to open up the economy to this investment, and so that shareholders in Canadian companies in the oil patch can sell their shares at a premium to the Chinese, and get that benefit.</p>
<p><strong>But another more troubling explanation which would require greater sophistication by the government but is not - certainly shouldn’t be ruled out - is that they foresee changes in attitudes about the oil patch, in the United States, in Canada, and that this may lead to new regulations on the oil patch, in that, climate can’t just be wished away forever, and that governments might take steps to regulate the oil patch in ways that investors wouldn’t like.</strong></p>
<p><strong>If you bring in a lot of Chinese investments, and you sign the Canada investment deal, you kind of get the Chinese investors to do your dirty work for you, for years after the current government is gone, because the Chinese investors can beat up on new governments that actually do take steps to change the balance between the investor rights in the oil patch and the general interest in addressing climate change or other issues like pollution and so on.</strong></p>
<p><span class="caps">CL</span>: Wow.</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">GVH</span></strong>: <strong>So that’s probably the most troubling aspect, is that this is designed to be a straitjacket, and it will have effect on Chinese investments that have been let in for the next 31 years after the deal’s been signed.</strong> Because the deal has a 15 year term, you have to give another year’s notice to terminate the deal and then after it’s terminated it still applies for another 15 years for investments that are in the country at the time of termination.</p>
<p><span class="caps">CL</span>: So you’re saying that this deal has an active shelf life of 15 years, but stays in effect for 31 years?</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">GVH</span></strong>: Yes, the treaty does, meaning the treaty will be available to protect Chinese investors, including not just the Nexen investors, if they’re allowed to buy Nexen, but any other Chinese investors who come into the oil patch. <strong>I don’t think the government wants to see the whole oil patch Chinese owned, but I think it’s quite likely we’ll see significant portions of it Chinese owned, and once significant portions are Chinese owned, the you’ve also given lawyers who work for the Chinese investors this powerful tool to beat up on governments anywhere in Canada, you really frustrate the ability of Canadians to elect governments that are going to get more serious about the environmental consequences of the oil patch.</strong> That will be for 31 years from the date of this deal coming into effect, which is right now forecast to be about a two weeks away.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Harper%20wife%20China.jpeg" style="width: 450px; height: 522px; " /></p>
<p><span class="caps">CL</span>: <strong>And what’s the significance of that for, say, something like the northern gateway pipeline project that’s still in decision process?</strong></p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">GVH</span></strong>: Well, I mean, first of all, if that pipeline is owned, <strong>if foreign investors are spending money in relation to the proposed pipeline, then they right there could conceivably use the China-Canada deal to object to decisions taken by Canada, for example the British Columbian government, in objection to the pipeline.</strong> So the <span class="caps">BC</span> government may say ‘we don’t like the deal for the pipeline, we won’t supply electricity to it,’ well if they did that and the pipeline had Chinese money in it, the Chinese investors could say ‘you are discriminating against us, you don’t treat other investors in pipelines the same way in <span class="caps">BC</span>, so why are you discriminating with this pipeline, you’re not allowed to do it, and any money we lose as a result, you have to compensate us. You, Canada.’</p>
<p><strong>And that’s not just the money that they put into the pipelines, they that’s their lost profits, that’s the money that otherwise reasonably would have earned, had this pipeline gone forward.</strong></p>
<p><strong><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Harper%20China%20Canada%20Flags.jpeg" style="width: 550px; height: 371px; " /></strong></p>
<p><span class="caps">CL</span>: I’m thinking about how tenuous the situation has already become in terms of environmental regulations after the<a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/06/06/a-rough-guide-to-bill-c-38/"> Omnibus budget bill</a> was passed and we saw a severe weakening of our environmental reviews and assessments and regulations. In effect the Harper government has instituted this new legal framework in which our pre-existing environmental laws have been weakened, gutted and now we are introducing this new 'straitjacket' to maintain those laws because of the possible difficulty of ever reinstituting them in stronger ways.</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">GVH</span></strong>: <strong>Yes, exactly, and let me spell it out very precisely</strong>. In many cases the arbitrators have allowed the investors to argue under the treaties that their treatment by the government was unfair and inequitable, if the government did not provide a stable regulatory framework. So if the regulatory framework is in a particular state, let’s say its currently denuded state because of the changes in the spring budget to environmental legislation, <strong>investors from China now say ‘well, we’re going to invest now because we don’t think any of our projects will be subject to environmental assessments and fisheries act regulations’, and so on. A new government comes in when the projects are underway, and says, ‘well actually we’re putting the laws back in place’. The Chinese investor can then say 'ah, but you can’t because we made our investments based on an expectation that there was a stable regulatory framework and that the previous government promised us that that regulatory framework would be stable’.</strong></p>
<p><strong>And so you can’t change the laws so easily</strong>. I’m not saying that the arbitrators necessarily would, but many have, interpreted the treaties broadly enough to allow the Chinese investors to receiver full market compensation in those circumstances from the new government due to a change in the regulatory framework. And, in a way, some of the things that the Harper government has done, I understand second hand - but have not confirmed this myself - that <strong>one of the ministers, I think <a href="http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/09/joe-olivers-open-letter-the-regulatory-system-is-broken/">Joe Oliver</a>, had said at press conferences that they were changing the environmental laws because that’s what the investors wanted. If he did in fact say something along these lines, the he could have done nothing more to feed the arguments to the investors’ lawyers down the road, if a new government decided to put the laws back in place. Because Chinese investors would be able to point specifically to his statements, which would be statements on behalf of Canada, that Canada was prepared to remove its environmental laws in order to bring in Chinese investment because that’s what investors wanted. It almost becomes part of the deal. A new government can reverse that decision, but they will have to pay for it.</strong></p>
<p><strong><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Harper%20Joe%20Oliver%20China.jpeg" style="width: 550px; height: 347px; " /></strong></p>
<p><span class="caps">CL</span>: Well, that is astounding to hear.</p>
<p><span class="caps">GVH</span>: <strong>Yeah, it’s kind of disheartening to those who care about, let’s say, protecting the environment for future generations.</strong> But on the other hand, the system has invoked very strong reactions by some countries, and increasingly governments that don’t put investor rights ahead of the rights and interests of everyone else are taking steps to unplug the system as best they can. But the decision to allow the China-Canada investment deal to come into effect will have the greatest impact on Canada’s ability to take sovereign decision with respect to its resource sector since any treaty we have signed since <span class="caps">NAFTA</span>. And it is comparable to <span class="caps">NAFTA</span> in terms of the effect that it will have. Yet it does not allow any access by Canadian exporters to the Chinese market, unlike <span class="caps">NAFTA</span> for the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> market. For this reason, it seems to be just a very lopsided deal for Canada.</p>
<p><span class="caps">CL</span>: And this is why the conversation that you see coming, even from conservatives, expressing concerns about the fact that China is <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/non-benevolent-china-a-concern-in-nexen-deal-tory-mp/article4549293/">not a benevolent nation</a>, that this is why that statement is so significant. They’re not talking about whether these are nice guys or not. This is a much more meaningful and significant thing to say about a county like China when you’re preparing to engage in this kind of deal.</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">GVH</span></strong>: Well let me give you another example. Under the treaties investors are entitled to something called ‘full protection and security’. Now what that has been interpreted by arbitrators in some cases to mean, among other things, that the government has to protect the investors’ property, assets, from public opposition and public protest. <strong>So let’s imagine that there are blockades of the pipeline as it’s being built through British Columbia, let’s say by <a href="http://bc.ctvnews.ca/high-profile-activist-vows-to-join-pipeline-blockade-1.899912">native groups and by environmentalists</a>. The Chinese will have an expectation, backed by the treaty, that the Canadian government through its police, through the courts, will take strong steps to protect the Chinese investors’ business plans from public opposition.</strong></p>
<p>Now, sometimes public protests in opposition to foreign investments in other countries, I’m thinking in particular of a couple of cases in Latin America, one involving oil <a href="http://amazonwatch.org/work/chevron">drilling in the Amazon by Texaco and then Chevron</a>, and the other involving the disputes over a <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2001/4/13/bolivian_security_forces_crack_down_on">privatised water system in a city in Bolivia</a>, some of <strong>those protests have actually led to violence, people have died, and that becomes part of the context for the arbitrators deciding whether the governments’ protection of the investor were sufficient. </strong>So it’s a concern, and <strong>I think it’s fair to say the Chinese investors may have a different view of how to handle that kind of situation from what we’re used to in Canada.</strong></p>
<p><strong><img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Harper%20Miliatry%20China.jpeg" style="width: 550px; height: 383px; " /></strong></p>
<p><span class="caps">CL</span>: And suddenly the onus is placed on the federal government to uphold this agreement, and their loyalty will in some sense be split between preserving this agreement that they have with the company and also protecting the rights of the citizens.</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">GVH</span></strong>: Yes, exact. <strong>So the question that the government will now have to face is, how is it going to balance its obligations to respect Canadian democratic protests, including when it’s actually effective in frustrating a pipeline, to balance that against its new obligations to provide full protection and security, backed by a very powerful international arbitration process, which tends often to favour the investors in its legal approach, and to provide that full protection and security under the treaty to Chinese investors.</strong> That’s the question the government will now have presented for itself.</p>
<p><em>[<span class="caps">END</span> <span class="caps">OF</span> <span class="caps">INTERVIEW</span> <span class="caps">PART</span> 2]</em></p>
<p><em>Gus Van Harten has written extensively on foreign investment deals. His research is freely available on the <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=638855">Social Science Research Network</a> and <a href="http://www.iiapp.org/">International Investment Arbitration and Public Policy</a> website.</em></p>
<p>Stay tuned for Part 3 of my interviews with Gus Van Harten.</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10436">Gus Van Harten</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10525">FIPA</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10526">Foreign Investment Protection Agreement</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/761">china</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10186">Nexen</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10527">investment treaty</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5534">Northern Gateway Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5758">Protest</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10496">international tribunal</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10439">international arbitration</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10528">investment lawyers</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10187">CNOOC</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6577">pipelines</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2945">Legislation</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10529">environmental legislation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10367">environmental review</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6834">Safety</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10530">transparency</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8119">Harper Government</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6404">Law</a></div></div></div>Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:34:08 +0000Carol Linnitt6582 at http://www.desmogblog.comDeath in the Woods: Canadian Federal Government Delays Release of Caribou Recovery Strategy - Again http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/09/29/death-woods-canadian-federal-government-delays-release-caribou-recovery-strategy-again
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Picture%203_4.png?itok=qfvE8be1" width="200" height="133" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><em>This post is a part of DeSmog's investigative series: <a href="http://desmogblog.com/crywolf">Cry Wolf</a>.</em></p>
<div>
Yesterday, <a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlife/caribou/archive/2012-09-28-federal-government-letter-caribou-recovery-again-delayed">the Canadian government told the nation's federal court that it will not release its long-awaited Woodland Caribou Recovery Strategy</a>. The Recovery Strategy, <a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/news/2012/2012-09-29-awa-news-release-more-death-in-the-woods-feds-delay-action-on-caribou-again">already 5 years overdue</a>, represents conservationists' strongest measure of defense for dwindling caribou populations in Alberta that suffer increasing habitat loss from industrial development and intensive tar sands expansion.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The outlook for caribou in Alberta is grim, especially as they find themselves in a stand off against industrial giants backed by a federal government in favor of increasing tar sands and other industrial activity. Habitat disruption is a crucial issue for caribou who need large buffered areas of old growth forest to survive. The majority of Alberta's 12 caribou herds currently struggle with low calf survival - an issue directly related to disturbed habitat.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlife/caribou/history">The Canadian and Albertan governments have historically hesitated to take meaningful measures to protect Alberta's caribou herds</a> because such measures would not only advertise the deleterious effects of tar sands development on local wildlife and their habitat, but would require setting aside protected areas made unavailable for oil and gas development.</div>
<!--break-->
<div>
</div>
<div>
Cliff Wallis, the Vice-President of the Alberta Wilderness Association (<span class="caps">AWA</span>) and member of the Alberta Caribou Committee said in an <a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/news/2012/2012-09-29-awa-news-release-more-death-in-the-woods-feds-delay-action-on-caribou-again" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; "><span class="caps">AWA</span> press release</a>, “governments failing to act means more caribou death in the woods. Everyone knows what must be done to save the vanishing caribou - it's time to get on with the job of protecting Alberta's boreal and foothills forests”.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Without government guidelines in place to manage tar sands development, new projects will continue to <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/comparing-territories-tar-sands-blanket-caribou-habitat">overlay critical caribou habitat</a>. The <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/maps-show-tar-sands-sprawl-caribou-habitat-could-resolve-problem-1-industry-profits-says-scientist">resulting sprawl of tar sands activity over caribou habitat</a> puts local herds at an ever-increasing risk.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<img alt="" src="/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/pictures/Global%20Forest%20Watch%20Tar%20Sands%20Caribou%20Habitat_0.png" style="height: 383px; width: 500px; " /></div>
<div>
Image Source: <a href="http://www.globalforestwatch.ca/pubs/2012Energy/01CaribouDisturbance/Caribou_Industrial_Disturbances_2012.pdf">Global Forest Watch</a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The push for habitat protection has a <a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlife/caribou/history">long history</a> in Alberta. Conservation groups like the <span class="caps">AWA</span> and the Pembina Institute working with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Beaver Lake Cree Nation and the Enoch Cree Nation were <a href="http://www.sierraclub.ca/en/media/release/environmental-groups-echo-first-nations-call-caribou-protection">forced to take legal action against the federal government in 2010 after then environment Minister Jim Prentice refused to enforce emergency measures to protect “threatened” caribou populations</a> as legislated by the federal Species at Risk Act.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The government's <a href="http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/document/default_e.cfm?documentID=2253">delayed draft recovery strategy</a>, released 4 years overdue in August 2011, shirked away from habitat protection and restoration, instead pushing forward an aggressive predator control program that entailed a <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/cry-wolf-unethical-oil-story">provincial wolf cull</a>. Wolf control, <a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/news/2012/2012-09-29-awa-news-release-more-death-in-the-woods-feds-delay-action-on-caribou-again">according to the <span class="caps">AWA</span></a>, was put forward “as a band-aid approach to distract from oilsands, oil and gas and forestry-driven habitat loss.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Groups awaiting the federal government's action on urgent caribou issues were disappointed with the draft strategy, calling it a “<a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/issues/wildlife/caribou/archive/2011-10-31-alberta-woodland-caribou-2013-proposed-federal-recovery-strategy-declares-war-on-wolves-lets-habitat-degradation-continue">war on wolves</a>.” Now they face another delay while some of the tar sands' largest projects - such as <a href="http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/operations_sands_kearl_overview.aspx">Imperial Oil's Kearl Open Pit Mining Project</a> - have been granted approval.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
“Alberta caribou recovery is both biologically and technically feasible,” <a href="http://albertawilderness.ca/news/2012/2012-09-29-awa-news-release-more-death-in-the-woods-feds-delay-action-on-caribou-again">said Carolyn Campbell of <span class="caps">AWA</span></a>. “But it is urgent for governments to show responsibility and begin meaningful habitat protection for this iconic species.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
To learn more about the plight of caribou and wolves in Alberta, watch DeSmog's investigative report Cry Wolf: An Unethical Oil Story. </div>
<div>
<object height="309" width="550"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rh577CMmf60?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="309" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rh577CMmf60?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="550"></embed></object></div>
<p>Image Credit: Flickr Creative Commons <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmiers2/6121830597/">blimers2</a>.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1165">Alberta</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7978">Woodland Caribou</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/3569">Jim Prentice</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8421">Alberta Wilderness Association</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8731">Cliff Wallis</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8732">Carolyn Campbell</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/pembina-institute">pembina institute</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10354">Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10355">Beaver Lake Cree</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10356">Enoch Cree</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10357">habitat</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10358">critical caribou habitat</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10359">cry wolf: an unethical oil story</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/10360">caribou draft recovery strategy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/9553">Delay</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8707">crywolf</a></div></div></div>Sat, 29 Sep 2012 22:15:22 +0000Carol Linnitt6551 at http://www.desmogblog.comCozy Ties: Astroturf 'Ethical Oil' and Conservative Alliance to Promote Tar Sands Expansionhttp://www.desmogblog.com/cozy-ties-astroturf-ethical-oil-and-conservative-alliance-promote-tar-sands-expansion
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/hamish%20marshall%20and%20stephen%20harper.jpg?itok=l1TGb5ud" width="200" height="131" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>As the <a href="http://gatewaypanel.review-examen.gc.ca/clf-nsi/nwsrls/2011/nwsrls06-eng.html">Northern Gateway Pipeline Project Joint Review Panel</a> begins hearing over 4,000 comments submitted by community members, First Nations, governments, and environmental groups, the tar sands front group EthicalOil.org has launched its latest <span class="caps">PR</span> offensive in support of the pipeline. OurDecision.ca, the new astroturf ad campaign, is another dirty <span class="caps">PR</span> attempt to undermine the real and growing grassroots opposition to Big Oil’s plans to ram through this destructive pipeline. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/the-northern-gateway-pipeline-politics-and-the-law/article2296877/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A+RSS%2FAtom&amp;utm_source=Home&amp;utm_content=2296877">controversial Northern Gateway project</a> is opposed by 70 First Nations and a<a href="http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Federal-Politics/2011/05/01/OilTanker/"> majority of British Columbians</a>, who fear the inevitable oil spills that will accompany tar sands expansion, and in particular the threat of offshore tanker accidents on <span class="caps">BC</span>’s coast.</p>
<p>Viewers of <a href="http://desmog.ca/ethical-oil"><strong>Ethical Oil’s</strong></a> disingenuous new ad campaign aren’t being told about the intricate web of industry influence peddlers behind the effort and their connections to the Harper government and oil interests. In the middle of this web is Hamish Marshall, a Conservative strategist deeply connected to oil interests as well as both the Conservatives and ultra-right wing Wildrose Alliance Party. In this case, the lines between politics and big business interests are so blurred, it is nearly impossible to distinguish them.</p>
<!--break-->
<p><a href="http://ourdecision.ca">OurDecision.ca</a> is the <a href="http://desmog.ca/ethical-oil">Ethical Oil</a> Institute's attempt to dupe northern <span class="caps">BC</span> citizens into supporting the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker infrastructure, claiming that it’s “our choice” as Canadians to exploit the tar sands and pipe it to foreign export terminals. The fact that the oil <a href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/real+foreign+interests+oilsands/5981230/story.html#ixzz1jCxbyqrH">boom will actually enrich foreign investors from China, Europe and the multinational oil companies with a major stake in Alberta oil patch</a> is nowhere to be seen in Ethical Oil’s propaganda. (The hypocrisy of their arguments here is reminiscent of their <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/open-letter-oprah-winfrey-ethical-oil-ads">previous attempt to claim the mantle of women's rights to greenwash the tar sands</a>.)</p>
<p>Since the overwhelming public opposition to the project is hard to argue with directly, Ethical Oil decided to change the subject entirely by claiming a foreign conspiracy because some of the environmental organizations working to oppose tar sands expansion receive funding from <span class="caps">U.S.</span> foundations. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Harper+concerned+foreign+money+could+hijack+Gateway+pipeline/5959827/story.html">Stephen Harper </a>was quick to echo EthicalOil.org’s talking points by decrying the foreign influence that is “overloading” the Northern Gateway review process. Natural Resources Minister <a href="http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/01/11/keystone-where-joe-olivers-letter-comes-from/">Joe Oliver took a page from Harper's playbook</a>, writing that environmental groups “threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda,” using funding from “foreign special interest groups.”</p>
<p>The “foreign special interests” in question are progressive American foundations that fund a wide range of initiatives: from education and infrastructure in developing countries, to the performing arts and urban poverty in North America and around the world.</p>
<p>Since climate change recognizes no political borders, the foundations have supported the efforts of a wide range of Canadian and American groups to raise awareness about the consequences of expanding tar sands development. This is a global issue, no doubt about it, and that's why people from all over the world are watching Canada and weighing in on this. <a href="http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/tylermccreary/2012/01/difference-between-interests-enbridge-and-interests-canada-and-">Tyler Mccreary covers this point well today at Rabble</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, Ethical Oil's OurDecision.ca website refers to these foundations and environmental groups as “foreigners and their local puppets.”</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">ETHICAL</span> <span class="caps">OIL</span>? </strong></p>
<p>Ethicaloil.org is a classic case of dirty energy industry astroturf. Visit OurDecision.ca’s donation page, and you’ll be linked to a <a href="https://www.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&amp;SESSION=QsxSlGqPJCF4AD4g8hbWNf2KL0Sk8Y4dGdW4GOFwWiDfkAH4u21_X6je0dG&amp;dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8db2b24f7b84f1819343fd6c338b1d9d60">PayPal account </a>for the Ethical Oil Institute. As <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/open-letter-oprah-winfrey-ethical-oil-ads">previously noted</a>, the Ethical Oil Institute<a href="http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/gazette/2011/pdf/08_Apr30_Registrar.pdf"> was incorporated</a> to the Edmonton law firm<a href="http://www.mross.com/law/ViewPage.action?ran=-934689025"> McLennan Ross</a>, which has many tar sands industry clients.</p>
<p>The Ethical Oil Institute's Board of Directors has two members, Ezra Levant (the creator of the 'Ethical Oil' myth) and <a href="http://www.oilsandslaw.com/live/Our+Lawyers/Lawyer+Info?contentId=106">Thomas Ross</a>, Levant’s lawyer and a McLellan Ross partner. Thomas Ross is also one of <a href="http://www.oilsandslaw.com/live/ViewPage.action">ten lead partners in McLellan Ross’s OilSandsLaw.com initiative</a>, a “<a href="http://www.oilsandslaw.com/live/digitalAssets/0/93_Can_Lawyer_Oilsands_article_July_2009.pdf">slick new oilsands cross-selling strategy</a>” and marketing campaign.</p>
<p>But that's just the beginning of the connection. The websites of both OurDecision.ca and EthicalOil.org are hosted on exactly the same server and <span class="caps">IP</span> address as <a href="http://strategicimerpativesonline.com/">strategicimperativesonline.com</a>. Normally this wouldn’t be surprising – it's common for many websites to be hosted on the same server. But this isn't a coincidence. Strategicimperativesonline.com is registered to GoNewClear Productions, a business <a href="http://businessprofiles.com/details/Go_Newclear_Productions_Inc/CA-819180290RC0001">incorporated in British Columbia</a> to Travis Freeman, Brendan Jones, and Hamish Marshall.</p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">WHO</span> <span class="caps">IS</span> <span class="caps">HAMISH</span> <span class="caps">MARSHALL</span>?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/hamish-marshall/16/65b/a15">Hamish Marshall </a>is the President and <span class="caps">COO</span> of <a href="http://www.gonewclear.com/">GoNewClear Productions</a>. He is a <a href="http://www.publiceyeonline.com/archives/005991.html" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); text-decoration: none; ">well-known strategist and activist trainer</a> within Conservative circles, and also served as one of two British Columbia representatives on the federal Conservatives' national council between 2008 and 2010.</p>
<p>He started his political career working for Canadian Alliance <span class="caps">MP</span> Joe Peschisolido from 2001-2002, and for the Conservative Party doing outreach for the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition from 2002-2003. He then left his position at the Conservative-Party connected <a href="http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=fdba4f6d-92e6-4ebf-bd2c-e7d021897c6b">NaiKun Energy</a> in 2006 to work in the Prime Minister's Office as Harper's Manager of Strategic Planning until September 2007. In 2008, he managed polling for the Conservative re-election campaign.</p>
<p>The Ethical Oil-Harper government revolving door doesn’t end there. <a href="http://www.vancouverobserver.com/sustainability/2012/01/03/tory-linked-ethical-oil-website-slams-canadian-enviros-over-foreign">Hamish Marshall is married to EthicalOil spokeswoman Kathryn Marshall</a>, who took over last fall when her predecessor Alykhan Velshi moved into the Prime Minister’s Office as the director of planning.</p>
<p><strong>Hamish Marshall, through strategicimperativesonline, has registered 32 websites. Nearly all are connected to EthicalOil.org, the Conservative Party of Canada, and the right wing Alberta Wildrose Alliance Party</strong>.</p>
<p>Both ethicaloil.org's americans4opec.com and <a href="http://chiquitaconflict.com/">chiquitaconflict.com</a> are hosted on the server, as is Kathryn Marshall’s personal website, <a href="http://kathrynmarshall.ca">kathrynmarshall.ca</a>.<br /><img alt="" src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/hosting-history-strategicimperativesonline.com_.png" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-collapse: separate; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; cursor: default; width: 530px; height: 270px; " /></p>
<p><img alt="" src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/reverse-ip-strategicimperativesonline.png" style="width: 560px; height: 640px;" /></p>
<p><strong><span class="caps">DEEP</span> <span class="caps">TIES</span> <span class="caps">TO</span> <span class="caps">CONSERVATIVES</span></strong></p>
<p>The web gets really interesting when you look at the other sites registered on Marshall's server.</p>
<p>Conservative Party candidates with websites hosted on Hamish Marshall’s server include <strong>Natural Resources Minister <a href="http://www.joeoliver.ca/">Joe Oliver</a></strong>, one of the most vocal proponents of the tar sands. Oliver's <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/an-open-letter-from-natural-resources-minister-joe-oliver/article2295599/">open letter</a> last week refers to the “environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade”. See the <a href="http://who.is/whois/joeoliver.ca/">WhoIs profile for www.JoeOliver.ca</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://resultsforyou.ca">Pierre Poilievre</a></strong>'s <a href="http://who.is/whois/resultsforyou.ca/">www.ResultsForYou.ca</a> website is hosted on the strategicimperativesonline server as well. A Calgary-school graduate, Poilievre is Harper's former Parliamentary Secretary, and is currently the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. Poilievre also worked for <strong>Jason Kenney</strong>, whose site <a href="http://who.is/whois/jasonkenney.com/">www.JasonKenney.com</a> is hosted on the same server. </p>
<p>Former EthicalOil.org spokesman Alykhan Velshi used to serve as the Director of Communications for Kenney. And Velshi's mother, <a href="http://embassymag.ca/dailyupdate/view/top_conservative_staffers_mom_gets_nuclear_regulator_gig_01-05-2012">Rumina Velshi</a>, was just appointed by John Oliver to the national nuclear safety commission, raising ethics questions among critics. </p>
<p>For the pro-tarsands <strong>Wildrose Alliance Party</strong>, Hamish Marshall hosts both the official party websites, <a href="http://wildroseallancecaucus.ca/">wildroseallancecaucus.ca</a> and <a href="http://wildrosecaucus.ca/">wildrosecaucus.ca</a>, as well as numerous Wildrose Party candidate websites. This includes former leader <strong><a href="http://www.sendedamessage.ca/">Paul Hinman</a></strong>, and candidates <strong><a href="http://votedougcooper.ca/">Doug Cooper</a>, <a href="http://www.corrieadolph.com/">Corrie Adolph</a>, <a href="http://www.wildrose.ca/candidates/dave-yager/">Dave Yager</a>, <a href="http://heatherforsyth.com">Heather Forsyth</a></strong>, and <strong><a href="http://www.richarddur.ca/">Richard Dur</a></strong>. Dur is also the Chairman of Policy for Jason Kenney’s Conservative Party constituency association.</p>
<p>Toronto City Councillor <strong>John Parker</strong>'s <a href="http://www.johnparker.ca/">website</a> is also hosted on Marshall's server. </p>
<p>Back in <span class="caps">BC</span>, Marshall hosts the website of former <span class="caps">BC</span> Liberal candidate <strong><a href="http://falcon2020.ca">Kevin Falcon</a></strong>. After working on Falcon’s unsuccessful run for <span class="caps">BC</span> Premier, Marshall went to work for <span class="caps">BC</span> Conservative leader hopeful <strong>John Cummins</strong> as his campaign manager. His website is also <a href="http://cumminsforbc.ca">registered on Marshall’s server</a>. Hamish Marshall <a href="http://bcconservative.ca/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/dec_newsletter_v1.pdf">is now one of the directors of the <span class="caps">BC</span> Conservative party</a>. </p>
<p>Finally, Marshall’s server hosts a website that makes <a href="http://mprinthouse.com/">campaign signs for Conservative <span class="caps">MP</span>s</a>, as well as the website of the <strong>Ontario Progressive Conservative Association</strong> (<span class="caps">OPCCA</span>), the campus youth wing of the <strong><span class="caps">PC</span> Party of Ontario</strong> is hosted on this server (<a href="http://campuspc.ca/">campuspc.ca</a>).</p>
<p>This is certainly only the beginning of an expansive web of connections between EthicalOil.org and the Conservative Party. The dizzying connections between them suggest that EthicalOil.org and the Ethical Oil Institute are acting as shadow arms of the Harper government and its desire to protect tar sands interests ahead of the public interest.</p>
<p>(<strong>Update:</strong> <a href="http://deepclimate.org/2012/01/13/ethical-oil-political-connections-part-1-conservatives-go-newclear/">See DeepClimate's extensive look at this entangled web</a>.)</p>
<p>What is most disingenuous about EthicalOil.org’s campaign is its work to systematically discredit the hard-working individuals in the Canadian environmental movement who work to protect public health, robust ecosystems and the global climate from the tar sands threat. The real threat to Canadian sovereignty is the greedy <a href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/real+foreign+interests+oilsands/5981230/story.html">foreign corporations and governments buying up financial stakes in the Alberta oil patch</a>, and EthicalOil.org’s support of them.</p>
<p>Ask yourself: who are the real patriots in this scenario?</p>
<p>Will the Harper government and ethicaloil.org own up to their cozy connections and finally recognize the importance of a rapid transition away from an oil-addicted economy towards a clean energy economy that relies on the robust, renewable resource of Canadian ingenuity and sustainability know-how? The clock is ticking.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-upload field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><table class="sticky-enabled">
<thead><tr><th>Attachment</th><th>Size</th> </tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd"><td><span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="" title="image/png" src="/modules/file/icons/image-x-generic.png" /> <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/hosting-history-strategicimperativesonline.com_.png" type="image/png; length=30185" title="hosting-history-strategicimperativesonline.com_.png">hosting-history-strategicimperativesonline.com_.png</a></span></td><td>29.48 KB</td> </tr>
<tr class="even"><td><span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="" title="image/png" src="/modules/file/icons/image-x-generic.png" /> <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/reverse-ip-strategicimperativesonline.png" type="image/png; length=47158" title="reverse-ip-strategicimperativesonline.png">reverse-ip-strategicimperativesonline.png</a></span></td><td>46.05 KB</td> </tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1115">Stephen Harper</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4389">Enbridge</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5534">Northern Gateway Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5599">ethical oil</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5600">Ezra Levant</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6430">Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7228">Thomas Ross</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7231">Alykhan Velshi</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7232">conflict oil</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7316">ethicaloil.org</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7541">Kathryn Marshall</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8075">Paul Hinman</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8076">Doug Cooper</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8077">Heather Forsyth</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8078">Richard Dur</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8079">Rumina Velshi</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8080">Pierre Poilievre</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8081">Jon Oliver</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8082">WIldrose Alliance Party</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8083">McLennan Ross</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8084">strategicimperativesonline.com</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8085">Go NewClear Productions</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8086">GoNewClearProductions.com</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8087">Jason Kenney</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8088">Ethical Oil Institute</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8089">OurDecision.ca</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8090">Northern Gateway Pipeline Project Joint Review Panel</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8091">Hamish Marshall</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8092">Kevin Falcon</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8093">John Cummins</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/8094">Dave Yager</a></div></div></div>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:32:29 +0000Emma Pullman5972 at http://www.desmogblog.com"It Can't All Be True": Canadian Government Launches New Fracking Studieshttp://www.desmogblog.com/it-can-t-all-be-true-canadian-government-launches-new-fracking-studies
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Screen%20shot%202011-09-23%20at%2012.54.53%20AM.png?itok=j8vroIsB" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>According to Environmental Minister Peter Kent, the Canadian government is entering into the shale gas debate by <a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Ottawa+enters+debate+over+shale+development/5438868/story.html#ixzz1YeQG0EqL">launching two simultaneous studies of fracking and its impacts on the environment</a>. Environment Canada is pursuing an in-house review of the controversial fracking process, while the Council of Canadian Academies will lead an independent investigation to provide an expert assessment of the science and environmental impacts associated with fracking.</p>
<div>
Both federal and provincial governments have traditionally supported the development of the country’s rich unconventional gas deposits. Yet growing opposition has led to civil discontent in some areas like Quebec, where concern over fracking’s environmental impact <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/quebec-shale-gas-project-grinds-to-halt/article1757870/">resulted in a moratorium</a> while a more thorough scientific review is conducted.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Quebec’s cautionary approach has prompted others to ask why provinces like British Columbia, Alberta, and New Brunswick, where there is equal cause for concern, are not taking a similar science-based approach. But the federal government has met calls for independent investigations and environmental evaluation with silence.</div>
<!--break-->
<div>
</div>
<div>
Ottawa can monitor shale gas development, says Minister Kent, and <a href="http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/NaturalGas/6199302">has the authority to oversee the industry</a>, but <a href="http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=8403">leaves that responsibility to local jurisdictions and their provincial counterparts</a>. This (<a href="http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=8403">heavily criticized</a>) arrangement means there is a dangerous lack of national operating standards, giving rise to provincial self-regulation and back room deals with industry.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Minister Kent’s recent announcement that the federal government will now take part in determining the risks associated with fracking and shale gas development was met with mixed emotions.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
According to University of Toronto’s Douglas Macdonald, federal intervention may be just what the situation calls for. “A lack of co-ordination is a real problem,” <a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Ottawa+enters+debate+over+shale+development/5438868/story.html#ixzz1YeQG0EqL">says Macdonald</a>, “the environment may suffer, industry suffers.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/search/node/capp">Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (<span class="caps">CAPP</span>)</a> also welcomed the announcement. A review of this kind is what the industry needs to affirm fracking’s safety to the public, <a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Ottawa+enters+debate+over+shale+development/5438868/story.html#ixzz1YeQG0EqL">according to Tom Huffaker, <span class="caps">CAPP</span> vice president of policy and environment</a>.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
President and <span class="caps">CEO</span> of Questerre Energy, Michael Binnion says the government should stick to facilitating development between the provinces as an “honest broker.” Ottawa’s involvement “in regulating provincial assets or resources is not something I would support from the business, industry, or personal level,” <a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Ottawa+enters+debate+over+shale+development/5438868/story.html#ixzz1YeQG0EqL">says Binnion</a>.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Questerre’s plans to drill in the Utica shale <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/quebec-shale-gas-project-grinds-to-halt/article1757870/">came to a halt with the moratorium in Quebec</a> and anything less than a full endorsement from the government could make matters worse for the company. “There is a lot of different information out there about shale gas industry and hydraulic fracturing and it’s different enough that it can’t all be true,” <a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Ottawa+enters+debate+over+shale+development/5438868/story.html#ixzz1YeQG0EqL">says Binnion</a>.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
And while Minister Kent feels the study is necessary to assess “the state of scientific knowledge” surrounding the issue, <span class="caps">NDP</span> environment critic Megan Leslie <a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Ottawa+enters+debate+over+shale+development/5438868/story.html#ixzz1YeQG0EqL">sees the pair of studies in a different light</a>.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
“I find it hard to believe that Environment Canada and that the government doesn’t already know a lot of the information,” says Leslie, who considers the investigation a “stalling tactic” to further delay the implementation of a real regulatory framework.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Ottawa+enters+debate+over+shale+development/5438868/story.html#ixzz1YeQG0EqL">According to the Council of Canadian Academies</a>, the expert assessment could take up to 18 months.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
For the provinces already experiencing drilling, Minister Kent’s announcement is long overdue and seems weak in the face of what holds in the balance.</div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/environment-canada">Environment Canada</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2800">natural gas</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5133">fracking</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5597">Peter Kent</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/6139">Gas Industry</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/7337">Council of Canadian Academies</a></div></div></div>Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:21:04 +0000Carol Linnitt5751 at http://www.desmogblog.comDocuments Reveal Canada's Secret 'Oil Sands Team' in Europehttp://www.desmogblog.com/documents-reveal-canada-s-secret-oil-sands-team-europe
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/EU-CanFlag-Oiled_0.jpg?itok=lzGSncEh" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>DeSmog has helped to <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/oil-industry-and-canadian-govt-team-attack-european-fuel-standards-could-limit-alberta-tar-sands-development">document</a> the Canadian government’s extensive efforts in Europe to<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/alberta-and-canadian-governments-complicit-killing-climate-policy-eu-us-support-toxic-tar-sands"> kill climate change legislation</a> targeting the Alberta tar sands. In a major development today, official documents obtained though an Access to Information request by the <a href="http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3991">Dominion newspaper</a> exposed a nefarious “pan-European oil sands advocacy strategy” that is much more coordinated than previously understood. </p>
<p>According to Martin Lukacs at the <a href="http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3991">Dominion Paper</a>, t<span>he Canadian government has carried out a secret plan to boost investment and keep world markets open for Alberta’s filthy tar sands oil. Their strategies include collaboration with major oily allies to aggressively undermine European environmental measures.<!--break--></span></p>
<p>In December 2009, the federal government “oil sands advocacy strategy” was launched out of fear that growing opposition could curb European investment in the industry and that the <span class="caps">EU</span> restrictions on tar sands imports could be mimicked globally.</p>
<p><span>While very little of Alberta’s tar sands oil is actually exported to Europe (the lion’s share goes to the <span class="caps">U.S.</span>), entrenched tar sands defenders in Canadian government and the oil companies who stand to profit from it were concerned that European efforts to favor low-carbon fuel sources could influence other countries seeking ways to reduce global warming pollution.</span></p>
<p>Thus the government worked diligently, and often hand-in-hand with industry, to oppose the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/oil-industry-and-canadian-govt-team-attack-european-fuel-standards-could-limit-alberta-tar-sands-development">European Fuel Quality Directive</a>.</p>
<p>The “pan-European oil sands advocacy strategy” is run by the Department of Foreign Affairs (<span class="caps">DFAIT</span>) and involves eight foreign missions who work alongside Natural Resources, Environment Canada and the Alberta government. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the Team was launched around the time of the United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen. Perhaps, rather than mending Canada’s <a href="http://www.straight.com/article-275894/vancouver/copenhagen-canada-takes-colossal-fossil-distinction-third-year-row">damaged reputation</a>, the government figured it could lobby it away. </p>
<p>According to one of the documents obtained, the Team understands that, “Oil sands are posing a growing reputational problem [in Europe], with the oil sands defining the Canadian brand,” The document goes on to argue that, “Canada’s reputation as a clean, reliable source of energy may be put at risk.”</p>
<p>It appears that the Canadian government sees clean fuel legislation as more of a <span class="caps">PR</span> problem to be finessed than as as legitimate environmental problem to be addressed. </p>
<p><span>The Team routinely monitors green groups, responds to negative media coverage, and assists Canadian policymakers to lobby European parliamentarians and organize trips to Alberta. They’ve also worked to “enhance cooperation” with oil companies, and coordinated regular meetings between top European oil executives and Albertan and federal ministers, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper.</span></p>
<p><span>The diplomatic campaign is much more coordinated than previously understood. </span>It involves the complicity at the highest level of government and oil company executives, from secret meetings to big investments in the tar sands. It’s a story so gruesome, it will make your head spin. <br /><br />Head over to the <a href="http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3991">Dominion Paper</a> and<a href="http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Environment/2011/05/26/oil-sands-team-europe/"> The Tyee</a> to read more. </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/the-tyee">the tyee</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/tyee">tyee</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/913">global warming</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/939">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1122">carbon footprint</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1268">shell</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1839">Prime Minister Stephen Harper</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2247">lobbying</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2577">climate policy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2632">tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2738">oilsands</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4098">oil and gas lobbying</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4626">Green News</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5118">General</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5306">fuel standards</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5307">Rob Renner</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5308">Total</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5309">Statiol</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5457">EU Fuel Quality Directive</a></div></div></div>Fri, 27 May 2011 20:10:01 +0000Emma Pullman5386 at http://www.desmogblog.comOil Industry And Canadian Govt Team Up To Attack European Fuel Standards That Could Limit Alberta Tar Sands Developmenthttp://www.desmogblog.com/oil-industry-and-canadian-govt-team-attack-european-fuel-standards-could-limit-alberta-tar-sands-development
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/Tar%20Sands%20Canada.jpeg?itok=YRCImt15" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The Tyee has an excellent piece exploring the joint <a href="http://thetyee.ca/News/2010/10/20/EuropeDecidesFate/" target="_blank">lobbying efforts of the Canadian government and the oil industry to attack European climate legislation</a> that would set a precedent that could eventually impact the development of <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/top-10-facts-canada-alberta-oil-sands-information">Alberta’s dirty tar sands</a>. <br /><br />While very little of Alberta’s tar sands oil is currently exported to Europe (nearly all goes to the <span class="caps">U.S.</span>), the entrenched tar sands defenders in Canadian government and the oil companies who stand to profit from tar sands development are concerned that Europe’s efforts to favor low-carbon fuel sources could influence other countries that also need to find ways to reduce global warming emissions - say the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> for instance. <br /><br />That could spell disaster for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alberta's_tar_sands" target="_blank">Alberta tar sands</a> profiteers, since the tar sands are known to have a far greater carbon footprint than conventional oil, and certainly more than rapidly-growing alternative fuels. <br /><!--break--></p>
<p>The Tyee reports about the extensive lobbying being done by Canada and oil interests to block progress on emissions reductions regulation in the <span class="caps">EU</span>:</p>
<p><em>“Canadian officials weren’t the only ones concerned. European oil heavyweights Shell, <span class="caps">BP</span>, Total and Statoil all have investments in the northern Alberta muskeg. Voluntary lobbying records – though in obvious ways incomplete – give some indication of fossil fuel influence. Shell, for instance, </em><a href="https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/transparency/regrin/consultation/displaylobbyist.do?id=69545381134-55" target="_blank"><em>reports</em></a><em> it spent 400,000 to 450,000 Euros “representing interests to <span class="caps">EU</span> institutions” in 2009.</em></p>
<p><em>Transport and Environment’s Dings, currently based in Belgium, said the Dutch fossil fuel giant is “red hot” on the Fuel Quality Directive. “They have a very well-organized, very deeply-entrenched lobby in the [European] capitals and Brussels,” he said. “They make sure that their presence is heard.” </em><br /><br />Check out the full story at The Tyee: <a href="http://thetyee.ca/News/2010/10/20/EuropeDecidesFate/" target="_blank">“Why Europe Could Decide Fate of Canada’s Oil Sands.”</a></p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/the-tyee">the tyee</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/oil-sands">oil sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/913">global warming</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/939">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1002">bp</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1122">carbon footprint</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1268">shell</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1839">Prime Minister Stephen Harper</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2509">alberta tar sands</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2577">climate policy</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4626">Green News</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5306">fuel standards</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5307">Rob Renner</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5308">Total</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/5309">Statiol</a></div></div></div>Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:51:57 +0000Brendan DeMelle4876 at http://www.desmogblog.comCanada's Prime Minister Now Blames George Bush for Climate Inactionhttp://www.desmogblog.com/canadas-prime-minister-now-blames-george-bush-for-climate-inaction
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/images/blog-feature-3175.jpg?itok=A6ohhAff" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Of all the people to jump on the Blame-Bush-Bandwagon, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper is now claiming that,</p><p> <span class="blockquote"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/453245">… global efforts to fight climate change</a> are likely to go more smoothly once <span class="caps">U.S.</span> President George W. Bush leaves office early next year.”</span></p><p>Yes, this is the same Prime Minister whose government was viewed as one of the<a href="/bali-u-s-canada-japan-stand-up-for-selfishness"> lone instigators (along with the United States) of climate inaction</a> at the last major round of international talks on climate change in Bali, Indonesia. </p><p>Mr. Harper is no doubt realizing that being seen as a government in bed with the Bush administration on environmental policy is no way to garner more political support in a country that views the environment as a top issue and the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/nov/03/terrorism.northkorea"><span class="caps">US</span> president less favorably than North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il.</a><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/nov/03/terrorism.northkorea"></a></p><p>A <span class="caps">US</span> national poll out today might also explain Harper's sudden Bush-bashing ways. The <span class="caps">CNN</span> poll shows that <a href="http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/31154/five_point_lead_for_obama_in_us_race/">presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama</a> has jumped out ahead of his Republican rival John McCain by 5-points.</p><p>Unimaginable change are in the air. Hopefully they will lead to changes in our ever-warming atmosphere. </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/913">global warming</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/939">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1115">Stephen Harper</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1198">george w bush</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/1520">Barack Obama</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2438">greenhouse gas reductions</a></div></div></div>Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:45:31 +0000Emily Murgatroyd3175 at http://www.desmogblog.comGov't Commissioner says Feds Still Failing on the Environmenthttp://www.desmogblog.com/govt-commissioner-says-feds-still-failing-on-the-environment
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/images/blog-feature-2455.jpg?itok=TJKqq6gM" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The Canadian federal Commissioner on the Environment <a href="http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/TopStories/ContentPosting.aspx?feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&amp;showbyline=True&amp;newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20071030%2fenviro_commissioner_071030">says that the federal government</a> (Liberal or Conservative) is failing miserably when it comes to the environment. </p><p>In his report, commissioner Ron Thompson says that, the <span><span class="article"><font color="black">“ambition and momentum” that once existed when it came to environmentally sustainable policies “have faded and that strategies are a major disappointment.”</font></span></span></p><p>And the Auditor General agrees. Sheila Fraser says of the report, <span><span class="article"><font color="black">“after a decade, sustainable development strategies are a major disappointment. For the most part, senior managers in departments have not demonstrated that they take the strategies seriously and few parliamentary committees have considered them.”</font></span></span></p><p>Politicians continue to ignore this issue at their own peril. For over a year now, the issue of the environment has been top-of-mind for Canadians according to opinion poll, after opinion poll, beating out health care and the economy. </p><p>The first politician to show real leadership on the issue and offer a substantial and clearly laid out plan for action on the issue of climate change (the top of - of the top-of mind issue), will reap huge rewards. </p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/913">global warming</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/939">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2323">canadian government</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2324">environment commissioner</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2325">ron thompson</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2326">sheila fraser</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2327">environment</a></div></div></div>Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:39:30 +0000Kevin Grandia2455 at http://www.desmogblog.com